Automatic gun



April 5, 1938. STANGE 2,113,202

AUTOMAT I C GUN Filed Oct. 10, 1956 @e Q a l Lf" I, 1, 6' H F Patented Apr. 5, 1938 UNITED STATES AUTOMATIC GUN Louis Stange, Sommerda, Germany, assignor to Rheinmetall-Borsig Aktiengesellschaft, Dusseldori', Germany, a corporation of Germany Application Octpbel' 10, 1936. Serial No. 105,094

1 Claim.

This invention relates to automatic guns in which the breech block in its forward motion pushes the cartridge from the supply device, such as a magazine or belt. into the barrel. Ac-

5 cording to the invention, the surface on the breech block which engages with the cartridge in order to load it into the barrel ls arranged so as to be yieldable -in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of the block.

By the invention the cartridge belt or the magazine plate is advanced to feed a cartridge forward when a cartridge is pushed into the barrel by the advancing breech block, whereas hitherto this feeding motion of the belt or magazine l5 could only occur after recoil. As a result of the invention an increase in the speed of re is made possible, since the yielding surface of the breech block can engage with the foremost cartridge earlier than heretofore, and the whole contents of the magazine or belt can be advanced into the position'in which the leading cartridge is in the path of the breech block. Furthermore, the friction between the recoiling breech block and the leading cartridge waiting to be loaded is less than hitherto. In carrying out the invention, the magazine or belt is given such a position in the gun that the foremost cartridge which is next to be loaded lies outside the path of the rigid part of the breech block, and rests only in that of the yielding surface.

The invention further makes it possible to arrange that the breech block does not have to advance the cartridge belt during its recoil movements. Failures in loading owing to insucient recoil energy are thus avoided. 'Ihe belt is advanced through the distance between adjacent cartridges during the forward motion of the breech block immediately after the leading cartridge has been pushed from the belt, and the next cartridge is already in position during the iiring of the previous charge to be engaged by the yieldable member of the breech block, which member slips over the cartridge when the breech block recoils.

The invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawing in Which- Figs. 1-3 show longitudinal sections of a gun in which the breech block is respectively in its foremost intermediate and hindmost positions.

The breech block b is longitudinally movable in the receiver a and can be bolted to the slidably mounted barrel c in known manner by a locking collar d which is rotatable in guides in the receiver. In a. slot b1 in the forward part of 55 the breech block b there is pivotally mounted on Germany May 29, 1933 a pin b2 a lever e which serves to push the cartridges forward. The lever e is urged by a spring ei to rotate in such a direction that its front end projects from the side of the breech block. The

nose ez of the lever e, therefore, projects towards 5 the cartridge f which is lying in the belt awaiting loading, so that when the breech block moves backwards, the lever e is moved against the action of the spring e1 and is pushed into the slot b1 as is shown in Fig. 2.

After the lever e has passed the rim of the cartridge f, it is freed and moved out of the slot by the spring e1 until its rear end bears on the base of the slot b1 (Fig. 3). As the breech block now moves forward, the nose ez of the lever e, now bears on the cartridge base and pushes the cartridge f from its holder f1 (Fig. 3) into the cartridge chamber of the gun.l

In the example shown, in which the cartridges are fed in the known half-open belt grippers, the belt is advanced through the distance between adjacent cartridges by the forwardly moving breech block immediately after the leading cartridge has been pushed from vthe belt; that is while the cartridge is being introduced into the 2- cartridge chamber. To do this the rear end of the breech block b has xed to it a projecting member In which is guided in a cam groove g1 formed in a controlling drum g which is mounted on the axle i oi the belt-advancing wheels h. 3o The whole of the belt-advancing apparatus is arranged in a housing k which can be placed on the gun receiver and detachably secured thereto by a spring catch I in such manner that it can be easily removed. The controlling drum g is con- 35 nected to the sleeve h1 which carries the beltadvancing wheels h, by a unidirectional clutch connection. The latter consists in saw-tooth notches g2, ha. The pitch of these teeth corresponds to the inclination of the cam groove g1, i. e. to the distance between adjacent cartridges. When the drum g is rotated by the forwardly moving breech block, the belt-advancing wheels h are caused to rotate, while when the drum is rotated in the reverse direction by the backwardly moving breech block, the drum g moves relatively to the sleeve h1 as a-result of the formation of the saw teeth g2, y which operate in the usual manner. To make this relative movement possible, the sleeve hi is axially movable on the axle i against the action of a spring ha. In order to avoid accidental rotation, further saw-toothed notches h4 (Fig. 2) are provided on the end of the sleeve h1 remote from the drum g, and these prevent the sleeve from rotating, as a result of the rotation of the drum g, when the breech block moves back. by their engagement with counter teeth m which are secured on the cover 1c and are prevented from rotating by means of a longitudinal guide member k1. On firing, the barrel c and the breech block bolted thereto by the collar d recoil together. The collar dis then rotated in known manner to release the breech block While the latter moves rectilinearly; the barrel c and collar d then come to rest while the breech block continues to recoil. During the recoil movement the projecting member b3 traverses the cam groove gi of the control drum a, and rotates the latter. The sleeve h1 together with the belt-advancing wheels, are, however, unaffected by this rotation of the drum in consequence of the action of the coupling members g2, h2, h4, m, he.

After or during this idle rotation of the drum g into the position from which it can advance the cartridge belt, the lever e projecting from the surface of the breech block bears against the cartridge f and is moved back thereby into the groove b1 (Fig. 2) until the nose er has passed the rim of the cartridge and it can return under the action of the spring e1 into the operative position seen in Fig. 3. The recoil of the breech block now ends and, if the block is free to move forward owing to the trigger being pressed, the block is advanced -by the spring p which was compressed during recoil. The nose e2 of the lever e now meets the base of the cartridge f and pushes it out of the holding member of the belt or the magazine groove. In a gun in which the cartridges are fed by a belt, the projecting member be on the breech block begins, as soon as the cartridge has been removed from the belt gripper, to traverse the cam groove U and during the remainder of the forward movement of the breech block into the position of Fig. 1, advances the belt through a distance corresponding to the distance between adjacent cartridges in the belt. Thus while one cartridge is being fired, the next is already in a position to be moved forward by the breech block, but the breech block experiences no load and can recoil freely.

I claim:

An automatic gun having a longitudinally movably breech block, a pusher on said breech block displaceable in a direction transverse to the length of the breech block, a belt having half open grippers carrying the cartridges, and means for. advancing the belt controlled by the forward stroke of the breech block after the removal of the foremost cartridge from the belt and delivering the next cartridge immediately in the path of the pusher, the actuating means for advancing the belt being removed inactive by the rearward stroke of the' breech block in the operative position for the next forward stroke of the breech block.

LOUIS STANGE. 

